People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate Ivan Lim has withdrawn from contesting in the coming General Election (GE), insisting that new allegations made against him after issuing clarifications are “baseless”.
Mr Lim, who was introduced as a PAP candidate on 24 June, has been criticized over the past few days on social media over his conduct and behaviour by his colleagues at Keppel Offshore and Marine (KOM), fellow army comrades.
Most of the criticisms centered on his “arrogant, selfish and elitist” attitude as a commanding officer (CO) in military service, as well as his uncompassionate ill-treatment of colleagues and subordinates as assistant general manager (AGM) and general manager (GM) at the shipyard organisation.
Mr Lim made clarifications on Saturday (27 June) after the PAP’s First Assistant Secretary-General Heng Swee Keat urged him to “clarify these complaints and comments”. He also noted that he is “determined to stay the course.”
However, not long after that, the ruling party confirmed that Mr Lim will be dropping out from the GE as a candidate. He has also written a letter to the PAP’s Secretary-General Lee Hsien Loong to inform about his decision.
In the letter, Mr Lim denied new allegations that had emerged after issuing clarifications on Saturday.
“Following my clarification this morning, further allegations have emerged against me. These new allegations are baseless,” he wrote, without specifying what the allegations were about.
He added that the controversy has eclipsed the core issues of what the election should be about – Singapore’s future and the difficult steps the country has to take to recover from the pandemic.
“The controversy has also caused intense pain and stress for my family. I cannot put my family through this,” Mr Lim stated. “I thank the Party for giving me this opportunity to serve.”
Meanwhile, Mr Lee has accepted his withdrawal and replied to the letter.
“Ideally, there would have been a fair and deliberate consideration of these allegations. Unfortunately, the nature of the campaign is such that we do not have time for a thorough investigation,” he noted in his letter.